Parents: Charles H Clark and Ivah
Frances Blair Clark.
How did we learn about the two Clark
brothers that died in the service?
We learned by an accidental discovery of
something we were not looking for.
Charles was listed as K.I.A (Killed in
Action) in the
school yearbooks that we had.
I
was doing research to gather historical information
of all of the owners of a few blocks in
downtown Wellston near what was called
the streetcar loop. I had plenty
of information about Erastus
Wells, as the town was named for him. It
was his estate land that I was
researching and some of the pioneer
families that lived there. One of the oldest
streets in town is very close to this
and goes right
through this sixty-one acres, which is now all city
blocks. The street was named for a
family called Kienlen. I developed
a family history of sorts on the
Christian F. and Mary Louise (Moreau)
Kienlen family from census reports and
other sources. Then I searched
some of the surname message boards
available on the internet.
Bingo: I found this 2005 message on the
web and
corresponded. (Email is wonderful!)
" I'm looking for
Christian Kienlen who married Louise
Moreau in St. Louis Missouri in 1825.
Does anyone know where he was before
this time? thanks."
From Leslie.
I responded
to her query:
Hello Leslie:
I am not related. I am researching a
group of families along St Charles Rock
Road, a.k.a.. Easton Avenue, a.k.a. Dr
Martin Luther King Drive.
My research was for a history of of my
old hometown. I have a plat map made
after 1868, showing the Kienlen children's share
of the old homestead. The Census
indicates Christian F. Kienlen
born Germany, and that ties in with
the LDS records. Please share the your
St. Louis County information Bob
Leslie and I bounce a few bits of
information back and forth about our
families and growing up in St, Louis
County, Missouri. Her dad is about
my age, and some of his stories and mine
were shared.
"Coincidentally, my
husband's "Grandma" once lived around
Wellston just off of Kienlen on Kennerly.
Her maiden name was Clark. She has one
brother left. A sister just died, and
she lost two brothers in WWII. I just
looked for some papers her brother sent
me. There was a brother named Charles
B. Clark who was in the Wellston class
of '39 who went missing over Borneo. He
is called a "Bomber Baron" in the
article. The other brother was named
Harvey M. (Pat) Clark and was a gunner
lost over Germany. He also graduated
from Wellston,.. "
WOW! This was a
Serendipity! I had just finished a short
page on Lt. Charles B. Clark, class of
'39! One project leads back to
another!
I did have a Lt. Charles B.
Clark, Class of 1939 (born about 1921), on
our web site, no picture and very little
information. None of the information we
had mentioned another brother who also
graduated from Wellston. There was a
"Harvey Clark", class of 1941.
I wrote:
Leslie: "Quick one.
Visit my page, I just put this up about
a month ago.
I only have one of the Clark boys.
http://freepages.military.rootsweb.com/~welhisco/
Bob"
Leslie passed on my
address to Frank Clark. (The grand
uncle of Leslie's husband, Frank's
sister was Leslie's husband's "Grandma")
Frank's
email: " My Brother's picture: as
attachment. Charles B Clark Wellston
High School graduate, 1939, missing in
action 1944, later determined killed in
action - Frank Clark"
Next from
Frank:
"Bob, I am sending you a few more
pictures & info. I attended Wellston
Junior High School in 1937 & 1938.
The family moved into St. Louis in 1939
& I went to Blewett High School from
1939-1943 when I graduated"
"Harvey
Mack (Pat) Clark should have graduated
in 1934, but he had to quit school & go
to work to help with the family
finances. He went back to Wellston High
School and graduated from Wellston High
School in 1941 when he was 25 years
old."
Francis E. (Frank ) Clark
Bob, Thanks for all of the
information and for updating your
webpage! I'm sure Frank was
thrilled to see his brothers! Thanks again!
-Leslie
----------------
Bob,
I was at the Marine Corps 4th
Division Base on Maui, Hawaiian
Islands in October 1944 and shipped
out on Jan 3rd, 1945 to Pearl Harbor
where we did some landing invasion
maneuvers training, then on Jan
27th, 1945 we sailed out & arrived
at Eniwetok Atoll on Feb 5th,
1945.On Feb 7th, 1945 we sailed out
to arrive at Saipan on Feb 11th ,
1945. We sailed out on Feb 16th to
arrive at Iwo Jima on Feb 19th to be
in the invasion. I took
the above information from my
military records.
I was at the 4th Division Marine
Corps base on Maui when I learned of
my two brothers being missing in
action. I did not find out that they
had been killed in action until May
of 1945.
In June of 1945, I received shipping
orders to return to the States out
of combat areas after my Mother had
applied for me to be moved into
non-combat areas after
the events surrounding my two
brothers. . .Frank Clark
